Share This Story!

Kasey Kahne helps Watkins Glen promote NASCAR weekend

As part of a promotional appearance for next month's Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Kasey Kahne exchanged his NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car for a go-kart and took 14 laps around Pole Position Raceway at the Walden Galleria Mall.

Kasey Kahne helps Watkins Glen promote NASCAR weekend

Sprint Cup driver makes appearances in Buffalo as part of track's media day.

NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne puts on his helmet before taking some laps at Pole Position Raceway in Cheektowaga as part of media day for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen weekend at Watkins Glen International.
(Photo:
ANDREW LEGARE / STAFF PHOTO
)

Story Highlights

Kasey Kahne appeared in Buffalo area to help promote the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

CHEEKTOWAGA – Kasey Kahne has never won at Watkins Glen International. However, he now boasts bragging rights over the track's president.

As part of a promotional appearance for next month's Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, the veteran driver exchanged his NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car for a go-kart and took 14 laps around Pole Position Raceway at the Walden Galleria Mall.

"He beat my best lap time, so I'm a little upset about that," WGI President Michael Printup joked. "But I was kind of hoping he would because he's a much better driver than me. It's great to have him here in Buffalo and hanging out with us and representing all of our fans from New York. I think that's really key."

Kahne, 34, made an appearance at GM Tonawanda Engine in Buffalo later in the afternoon.

He will return to New York state from Aug. 7-10 when Watkins Glen hosts the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen weekend, which includes the Bully Hill Vineyards 125 NASCAR K&N Pro Series race on Friday, the Zippo 200 at The Glen Nationwide race on Saturday, and the headlining Sprint Cup race on Sunday.

"Looking forward to it. I enjoy Watkins Glen," said Kahne, a native of Enumclaw, Wash. "It's a blast to race at, a great part of the country to come to. Our results are not that great here for whatever reason, but I feel like I've been getting better and better and understand the track pretty well now. Hopefully at some point we run really well at The Glen because it's a neat place."

In 10 starts, the best Cup finish at Watkins Glen for the driver of Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet was 13th place two years ago.

Kahne is 17th in the Cup standings this season and still chasing his first win of the year, which would likely secure one of the 16 berths in the Chase for the Championship field. Seven races remain before the Chase field is set, including Sunday's Brickyard race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a second trip to Pocono Raceway on Aug. 3.

He came up just shy of the track record Wednesday after driving the course at the same time as a few fans. Kahne later signed autographs for a line of people.

"I was trying to figure out the course. It's pretty tough," said Kahne, who has 16 career Sprint Cup wins. "There are four corners that are difficult and I felt like I got one of them down and the other three were decent. It will take more laps to really figure the place out, but I had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again."

Watkins Glen is coming off a successful 2013 race that Printup said drew about 94,000 fans, one of the largest crowds in the modern history of the road course's Sprint Cup race, which dates back to 1986.

The track has held media day events across upstate New York in recent years. Last year featured Kyle Busch performing stunts in his car in downtown Rochester and two years ago Jeff Burton made an appearance at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse.

"I stated last year that Buffalo is my hometown, but it's also a primary market for us," Printup said. "Elmira-Corning is No. 1, Rochester is No. 2, and Buffalo and Syracuse are tied for No. 3. We just want to have a good time and do this. That's the importance of having (Kahne) here and coming all the way out here to do this."

Watkins Glen has also received some promotional help from a less likely source, with former New York Giants defensive lineman and current talk show host Michael Strahan talking up the possibility of "getting your heart racing at Watkins Glen International." The commercial segment is part of the state's "I Love New York" summer tourism campaign and features numerous attractions.

"That's a great commercial in 'I Love New York,' " Printup said. "I've gotten calls all the way from California going, 'Dude, how'd you get that done?' It's a tight relationship with New York and the governor. If it wasn't for Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo and his team, Watkins Glen probably wouldn't be where it is today just because he's been helping us promote the race so much over the last few years. The 'I Love New York' commercials are key to that."